Time for me to unlurk.

I’ve been listening for a while and have been thoroughly enjoying it. It
is clear I can learn more than I can contribute.

I am Larry Conely and live in Grosse Pointe Farms, a suburb of Detroit.
I will hit six decades this summer.

I was raised on a working farm. We were required to be pretty much self-
sufficient. We were our own woodworkers, mechanics, veterinarians,
botanists and often doctors. I recall my father stepping on a nail. It
pierced the bottom of his shoe, went through his foot, and came out the
top of the shoe. He pulled it out, went into the house, washed it off
and went back to work. Anyway, it took me a long time to realize how
much I learned from my father while growing up.

I’m now a creative director at an advertising agency but I often crave
the simplicity of my youth and the connection to basic crafts and
values. Woodworking is one of these connections I can still practice.

I love tools of almost any description. I’m more a user than collector
and enjoy bringing neglected and wretched tools back to life. I also
confess to being partial to Bridge City, Ulmia and other contemporary
well-crafted products. Sounds like an oxymoron. I built my bench almost
20 years ago after reading Scott Landis’ book cover-to-cover about three
times. It’s a hybrid, I guess, but I wouldn’t change much. It uses a
Record 52 1/2 let into the top, a tail vise at the opposite end, two
rows of bench dog holes and a sliding board jack.

I have spent more time in the last 30 years restoring / remodeling
houses than indulging in woodworking therapy. Only once have I
completely rebuilt a kitchen by myself. I have discovered that if I work
slowly enough, SWMBO will agree to use outside contractors. My wife and
I have restored three houses and are starting our fourth “project” house
that we purchased a year ago. In between working on the house and
working at my job, I’m trying to set up a work space in the basement. At
the moment, my tools are split between the basement and the garage.

Other (more) important facets of my life include my wife, two children
and three grandchildren. Prior to that I served four years in USMC (I’m
smarter now that I was then). We also lived in Australia for a few
years, allowing us to indulge ourselves and children with travel in
Asia, the Pacific Basin and South Pacific.

While travelling I would pick up native artifacts, usually woodcrafted
somehow and mostly authentic (not tourist bait). I have some interesting
masks, boomerangs, quivers, toys, etc. Even some stone age tools. In
Bali, I watched a young man carve much of one mask that I have today. I
think he had three carving instruments. He sat on the ground, held the
mask in his feet and manipulated it as though his feet were another pair
of hands. It was finished with shoe polish.

Sorry for droning on. I look forward to spending more time here.

Thanks,

Larry
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